Washington Commanders head coach Ron Rivera officially named Sam Howell as the starting quarterback Friday morning.
Ron Rivera: "I talked with Eric Bieniemy and Tavita [Pritchard] yesterday and after our first preseason game, after both joint practices I'm going to name Sam Howell our starter this year going forward."
— Nicki Jhabvala (@NickiJhabvala) August 18, 2023
The move isn’t a surprise and has been in the works for months. Rivera wanted Howell to earn the position, which Howell has done with a strong offseason, training camp and first preseason game. Howell is also coming off back-to-back solid performances in the joint practices with the Baltimore Ravens.
The move comes ahead of Washington’s second preseason game on Monday against the Ravens.
After Rivera named Howell the starting quarterback, we took to Twitter — or X — to see how everyone reacted.